This is a bit unusual..
I just got this email and I’d be grateful for your help in answering it.
What advice do you think this person needs to hear?
Hi Dave,
Hope you are well and in good health. Sulaiman Khan here, I am the student who e-mailed you a couple months ago.
I just am really enjoying reading your blog and I it is quite a great resource I check many times a day now I have started my course at university. My course tutor, Gareth Pitman, often talks about your blog and you in my Introduction to Advertising & Branding lectures; and it is always quite interesting to learn what you say about advertising.
That being said, I have a few questions for you, as follows:
1) What is the best way I can better my communication skills like you?
2) What is the most important thing you look for when you are choosing a student for an internship or to hire?
3) What do you love/hate the most about working in advertising?
4) How can I improve my ‘book’ so it has the best chance to get the perfect job? What do look for?
5) Do know if there are any other severely disabled people like myself working in advertising? Am just a bit curious.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
And 7) How did you get your first break in to advertising.
I very much look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for all you time and consideration.
Kind regards,
Sulaiman
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Dave, I think we’d all like to know your answers to those questions!
However, in response to question 5, I’d suggest that any concerns about disability - at least in this context - are unfounded.
Advertising is all about the mind - curiosity and enthusiasm. Sulaiman’s questions demonstrate plenty of that.
The only ‘disabilities’ to worry about when it comes to advertising are laziness and ignorance.
I’ll give it a go.
1) What is the best way I can better my communication skills like you?
Practice baby, practice.
2) What is the most important thing you look for when you are choosing a student for an internship or to hire?
energy and passion.
3) What do you love/hate the most about working in advertising?
It can be a crazy business. Really crazy.
4) How can I improve my ‘book’ so it has the best chance to get the perfect job? What do look for?
you need to target somebody you really want to work for. sounds like you aren’t currently. look at it the other way. what are YOU looking for? that’s the real question.
5) Do know if there are any other severely disabled people like myself working in advertising? Am just a bit curious.
it shouldn’t matter but it will. advertising is a superficial industry. it will take effort on your part to solve this one. are you in a wheelchair? if so, work the stephen hawking genius angle. i am not kidding.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
think of lots of non “wow” ideas first.
7) How did you get your first break in to advertising.
by trying harder than the rest.
Hey Dave, not to be a killjoy over this post but what gives? I want to see you several times with Bucks uni and I think these questions were asked then, to which your answer to any of these generally was “get out of my agency!” Indeed most of your blog posts inspire introspective and analytical thinking no matter who you are. There are no way of answering these questions without sounding like either a Zen monk or a pretentious jerk, neither of which is helpful. It’s like a sculptor saying they look at a piece of granite then chip away everything that isn’t their subject matter: very clever but entirely useless for someone trying to learn.
Are you asking for help answering this because your instinct is just to ignore it, like you would with anyone else who wrote something like this? If so, why is this one so important to you? Haven’t you already answered a lot of these questions in your book “how to get your first job in advertising” anyway?
Hi Sulaiman,
I finished being a student and got my first job in advertising 2 years ago, so although I may not have the experience and wisdom of Dave, I can totally understand why you’re asking these questions! I don’t have the answers yet (I’m not sure these questions even have right or wrong answers), but here’s what I’ve picked up quite quickly from being in the industry…
1) What is the best way I can better my communication skills like you?
Practice is the main thing - obviously you need a degree of natural ability, but communication skills are something that can be honed over time.
Produce work, check it again and again, then sleep on it and check it again. Look over everything a thousand times. You’ll notice something new you can improve on every time.
Then show other people. Listen to what they say. Eventually, you’ll need to check work fewer times because the things you’ve learnt along the way will become good habits you apply first time. Always print work out and check it on paper – it will look totally different.
One word of caution, although you should check everything don’t ‘over egg the pudding’. There’s a fine line between perfecting a piece and tweaking it to death and losing all the energy.
2) What is the most important thing you look for when you are choosing a student for an internship or to hire?
I’m not qualified to answer this, but my boss has told me how I got the job, so that might help.
They liked the fact I looked a bit different – brightly coloured and cheerful clothes (which are still smart) are much better than a suit.
Be friendly and energetic – laugh and smile you’re way through any interview.
Make it clear you want to work for this specific company and this company only – don’t let on that you’ve sent your CV to loads of other people.
Do your research and have some questions to ask.
Although you’ll need to explain yourself, let your book speak for itself - they’ll have seen loads and the preamble can get really dull.
3) What do you love/hate the most about working in advertising?
Love – When works goes live and you know it’s going to be seen by thousands of people. The people are fun and creative. Being able to come up with crazy ideas for a living.
Hate – Constant amends. When great ideas aren’t run. Briefs with way too much or way too little details of what the client wants. Some aspects of advertising feel a bit pretentious too (you have to keep grounded and socialize in the real world away from work).
4) How can I improve my ‘book’ so it has the best chance to get the perfect job? What do look for?
Have a mix of real work that has been used in real life, and ideas you’ve come up with for ‘dream briefs’. This shows you can do the job, but there’s more to you. If you do anything like art, poetry, music etc, include some of that too. Don’t feel too shy to big yourself up and exaggerate your input on jobs a little!
Although the book is important, it’s more about you and how you come across. An employer needs to see potential in the person - everything else can be learnt later.
5) Do know if there are any other severely disabled people like myself working in advertising? Am just a bit curious.
I don’t know of any in advertising, but there are certainly disabled people in my company in other departments. If you can have the ideas, disability shouldn’t be a problem in advertising.
Maybe see if there are jobs where your disability will give you the edge – I have a deaf illustrator friend who works for a deaf-dumb charity. She instantly got on with the other staff and had an understanding of the job so it was perfect for her.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
Sometimes they just pop into your head and sometimes you have to have loads of rubbish ideas first. For me, the hard part isn’t having good ideas, it’s spotting which ones the good ones are! That’s a skill you learn over time, much like honing the communication skills.
Top tip – don’t panic, the ideas always come in the end. All the crap you go through until you get to that point is what leads to the idea, so just ride it out.
7) How did you get your first break in to advertising.
I applied for a job way out of my reach – I didn’t have the experience they needed and my degree wasn’t completely relevant. But they asked for some sample work with the CV, so I sent off everything I had and blagged an interview with my enthusiasm. Then I won them other with passion and personality in the interview.
I still wasn’t experienced enough though, so they offered me a much more junior position than the one advertised. After 6 months of hard work and lots of hinting I was given the job I’d originally applied for.
Get into a company any way you can, then once you’re in, make yourself indispensable.
Please post comments to let us konw how you get on! Best of luck x
@Diatribe
I have no idea why Dave decided to publish Sulaiman’s e-mail – I’m sure he’ll answer your question – but I can see the effect it has: Sulaiman will end up with plenty of different answers, from more or less experienced ad people. It’s always advantageous to have access to as many opinions as possible, don’t you think?
Cat has written: “I’m not sure these questions even have right or wrong answers”.
That’s the essence of what I’m saying.
Id say stop trying to find out how someone else does things and start trying to find out how to do it for yourself
@ Chris Brown
I think that’s easier when you have a bit of experience and confidence under your belt. I know that now just as well as you, but I didn’t when I was in Sulaiman’s position. You learn that with time, very few are born with such wisdom. Sometimes people just need a little encouragement, reassurance and some motivational words to get themselves started. Besides, isn’t emailling Dave Trott off your own back and throwing yourself wide open to the experiences of industry insiders the perfect way to start your own journey? I’m with you Anca - this is the perfect way to get a true reflection of the massive diversity within the industry.
1) communication skills
Learn written grammar, even if you’re a designer or art director. You need the ability to express yourself in a business environment, which means realising that an arbitrary design rationale that’s also littered with spelling or grammatical errors is unacceptable on two counts.
2) look for to hire
The ability to be enthusiastic - and bring fresh though to - about that which more experienced creatives are often jaded by. Beyond this, keep reading Dave’s excellent blog. It’s effectively a graduate receuitment ad for the industry.
3) love/hate the most
Love: the opportunity to conduct mass psychology
Hate: ad people who are too cool for school
4) How can I improve my ‘book’?
Put more of yourself into every page.
5) severely disabled
I’ve worked with some people with obvious disabilities at a number of agencies, but only one who was a creative (a deaf art director). Of course, there may be many more advertising employees with mental health or ‘invisible’ disabilities - and we wouldn’t know. In looking for a job, you should presume you will be treated fairly and lawfully. Let interviewers know of any special requirement you may have. Identify reasonable adjustments an employer may need to make in order to take you on, and discuss your needs openly. Finally, be straight with yourself. There’s a recession on. Everyone and her dog wants a job where you think for a living - like ‘advertising creative’. Most won’t get a job like that and, chances are, you won’t either. Having a dream does not entitle you to achieve it. Consider the way you think and ask yourself if it’s really so usefully different that large companies will be willing to keep you in a comfortable career for it. If not, think about accountancy. It’s a very good living.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
If you’re genuinely interested in the mechanics of it all, start by looking up Charles Sanders Pierce and abductive logic.
7) How did you get your first break in to advertising.
I sent a cheeky letter to a CD telling him I could do better ads than the one he’d just put out for agency account managers. He hired me after a day of freelance copywriting.
Best of luck.
*Naturally, you shouldn’t worry too much about spelling when commenting on blogs…
[Smile, wave, exit stage left]
Amazed (but perhaps I shouldn’t be) that somebody attending university, and wanting to get a job, eventually, in a communication industry, should have such a poor grasp of written communication. At 63, and not part of the advertising world, my worldview is probably a little jaundiced, even misanthropic, but if I were trying to extract a response from you, I would take a little more care with my syntax as, who knows, if you were impressed, or charmed, you might give him a job yourself. Looking at this, I doubt it. His impairment has to be put on one side I feel, as any skills he may possess, or be able to develop, should not be viewed in the shadow of his disability.
my 5 cents.
1) What is the best way I can better my communication skills like you?
practice, practice, practice. and when you’re satisfied - practice some more. read a lot, watch movies, listen to music… study the narrative, try to find out how what’s being said relates to how’s being said.
2) What is the most important thing you look for when you are choosing a student for an internship or to hire?
hunger for work. receptiveness to advice. stubborness when defending your idea. remember, you’ll be challenged all the time.
3) What do you love/hate the most about working in advertising?
I love dynamics of the work. every day is something new. unpredictability. problem solving. and I totally agree with what Luke Sullivan said: “you’ll be working with some of the funniest people in the industry.”
I hate it for the same reasons (being funny is a relative term).
4) How can I improve my ‘book’ so it has the best chance to get the perfect job? What do look for?
find your voice. find your style. and make it as good as you can. I’ll hire you for the way you’re thinking, not the way you’re immitating others.
5) Do know if there are any other severely disabled people like myself working in advertising? Am just a bit curious.
I worked with one. there wasn’t one single problem.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
white paper&pencil. use both till your eyeballs start bleeding.
And 7) How did you get your first break in to advertising.
to be honest I still don’t understand what happened. I got drunk at some party, acted silly and one copywriter said: “would you come for an interview in our agency?”.
I went and I got the job. lucky, I guess.
Hi Sulaiman,
I graduated from the very same UCA course this summer. I’m now working as a copywriter at an agency and with my creative partner to get a job as a team at a digital minded agency.
Firstly, you will learn a good grounding with Gareth and Francesco, so go slow for now and learn the basics, they will put you in a good position. Never underestimate what they teach only the course about the importance of an original strategy behind your creative work.
1) Keep doing briefs and create ads for any product you can think of and keep creating ads. The course will help you with this but it won’t hurt if you do this in your own time. Look at other work and take an interest in anything you possibly can, as you never know when it could be useful. Be social, you need to understand different types of people and the best way to do this is to be open to speaking to anyone.
2) Same as Rick said really, be enthusiastic. So far we’ve found that if you show the ability to not be daunted by a brief then people will look favorably on you.
3) Love: Coming up with ideas that are exciting. Crafting lines of copy until I know that it reads as I think it should. Meeting people that offer insights I do not have.
Hate: When it feels as if you cannot crack a brief.
4) Keep working on new campaigns. There will be work in your book that you feel is good but you will need outside opinions. Gareth is good for this; ask him to see your work when you have a new piece. You should also meet as many people in the industry as you can. Best way to do this in my eyes is to follow lots of blogs and news sources, you will soon become aware of the people in the industry that will help to give you an industry perspective on your work. Also, be interested in what people term digital, as it will be a huge asset to you. For that follow blogs like rubbishcorp.com and adverblog and also unrelated but also good is lifeatthebottom.com . Lastly try to enter and take interest as many awards as possible, not just D&AD or YCN but One Show college competition, Future Lions, young guns and others I cannot remember at this time.
5) In my eyes this doesn’t matter, as you bring a different insight than other creatives. If it’s your dream then just believe it can happen and work towards it, even after the first few letdowns.
6) This only happens if I really understand the brand and whoever I’m trying to interact with.
7) Well, our first placement as a team came through using constructively criticizing an advert that a creative director hated. Once we had his attention, we worked on some briefs to show him we could cut it.
Hope this helps and whilst you live in Farnham make the most of all the creative people you will meet from the other courses. They will teach you a whole load of things.
Dear Sulaiman, Good on you for finding Dave’s blog so young. If you go back through his posts you will find all the answers to all your questions told in an entertaining and anecdotal fashion with with real live examples. Enjoy.
Hi Diatribe,
I can appreciate what you’re saying, and that was pretty much my first thought, too.
All the answers to these questions are contained in these blog posts.
So just take the trouble to go back over the archives and read them carefully.
But.
This guy is severely disabled, and I figured I should cut him some slack.
So I thought, I’m surrounded by creative people (figuratively).
Let’s ask them.
Let’s just put it out there and see what happens.
Either way, it would be a good guide for him about the business.
Either people wouldn’t care, and there’d be no answers.
Or people would be helpful and give him advice.
At least he’d get an idea of the sort of people he’d come up against in the industry.
And anyway, I was quite interested to see what would happen.
Sometimes it’s good to do that.
Come at life out of a question, not out of an answer.
And look what happened.
Vinny, Rick, Riki, and Luke took the time and trouble to give him really useful advice.
And Cat especially made a real effort to be as thorough and helpful as possible.
And I’ve always found that when you train others you’re actually training yourself.
So they all probably got something out of it, too.
My advice would be to not worry about any handicaps. I know plenty of brain dead people in advertising and they seem to do just fine. Seriously though, I recommend two things: 1. perfect your English. 2. Never give up. I’m not a brilliant ad guy, I’ve never won a D&AD pencil, but I never stop trying. I get in early, stay late and study everything about a product. I come up with hundreds of bad ideas before I find a good one. Many more talented people than I have given up the business after a few letdowns, but I become more determined. That’s my advice.
The best single piece of advice here for me is the last line of Cat’s:
“Get into a company any way you can, then once you’re in, make yourself indispensable.”
Basically take any job you can just to get in.
Then when you’re in, it’s a lot easier to switch across to the job you really want.
I like that because it’s good predatory thinking.
How to take unfair advantage to get what you want.
It’s sneaky, and it verges on cheating.
In other words it’s creative, and that’s why I like it.
Perhaps I am in the minority, but I didn’t like Sulaiman email at all. Here’s why. It was obvious from the get go, that he was asking you for a job/internship and attempting to leverage his participation (read viewership) of your blog.
While I have a great deal of respect for you Dave, if I wanted a job from you I wouldn’t start the conversation by offering faint praise. I would get your attention by demonstrating my smarts, not merely noting yours.
Then, the really big problem I have, is with the whole disability thing. For me, playing the sympathy card would be deal-breaker. If this was not a sympathy ploy, then why did Sulaiman included the descriptor, “severely” without providing any detail? I believe I know the answer, This approach allows the reader to imagine the worst. Here’s the problem with this approach: it feels like an excuse. I wouldn’t even consider hiring someone who starts a conversation with an excuse.
Does that mean that there is no place in advertising for people with disabilities? Well of course not. There are men and woman out there with the grit, determination and courage to succeed at everything they try, despite their disabilities. They compete in marathons, climb mountains, run businesses and work in advertising. They don’t make excuses.
So, Sulaiman, since you are no doubt reading this, here’s a little advice. Don’t let your disability hold you back. But equally, don’t use it to get ahead. That will ultimately limit you.
Dave, to answer your question, you ignore the email.
I believe the man makes a rather good point.
Ciaran
1) What is the best way I can better my communication skills like you?
Study: How to get your first job in advertising.
2) What is the most important thing you look for when you are choosing a
student for an internship or to hire?
Brilliant ideas.
3) What do you love/hate the most about working in advertising?
Great ideas / Bad ideas.
4) How can I improve my ‘book’ so it has the best chance to get the perfect job?
Your perfect job and my perfect job may be entirely different.
What do look for?
Look within yourself.
5) Do know if there are any other severely disabled people like myself working in advertising? Am just a bit curious.
I am sure there are, but I don’t know any myself.
I suggest you Google it, contact them, and ask for advice from them.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
Immerse yourself in advertising, D&Ad Annuals, Lurzers Archives, etc
then get as far away from it all as possible.
7) How did you get your first break in to advertising?
Hard work.
@crashzulu
Assuming you’re right:
I’m sure Dave has the ability to make the right decision whether to offer Sulaiman a job or not.
Assuming you’re wrong:
You’ve just accused and humiliated a person that has less possibilities than most of us.
So what was in it for you that made you decide to post that message?
Assuming Sulaiman is looking for an unfair advantage by mentioning his disability:
Is life fair with severely disabled people? From whose perspective?
Quality life happens somewhere very far from bitter reflex responses.
It’s true, assumption can be the MOAFU, but also
can lead to presumption which can be even worse.
Ciaran
Hi Crashzulu,
I liked your email.
I didn’t agree with it, but I liked the fact you argued a controversial viewpoint in a clear, rational way.
Not just emotional rhetoric as I see on lots of blogs.
Forcing me to defend my position makes me think, and that’s always a good thing.
The interesting point for me is you say Sulaiman mentioning his disability is ‘playing the sympathy card’.
My attitude is, what’s the point in having a card if you don’t play it?
What I recommend students to do is first find out what makes you different.
That’s who you are.
Then find out if you’ve got any unfair advantages you can use, if not create some.
I think a disability is a bad thing to have, I wouldn’t want it whatever it is.
So you might as well get some value out of it.
On it’s own, of course, it’s not enough.
You have to make your portfolio as good as you possibly can.
But after that, you look for an edge.
Without him mentioning his disability I wouldn’t have posted his email.
So he used it, and he got a result.
For me that’s valid.
Incidentally, one of my heroes growing up was Douglas Bader.
He lost both legs in the 1930s.
Then he went on to become an ace fighter pilot in the war and shot down eight German planes.
With no legs.
Then he was shot down and captured.
He kept escaping so much that the Germans took his artificial legs away.
Even then he was considered so much more dangerous than all the regular POWs that he was sent to Colditz where all the top escapees were guarded.
Ask him if he’d let his disability stop him.
Sorry I was wrong.
I just looked up Douglas Bader on Wikipedia to check I’d got the facts right.
He actually shot down 22 German aircraft.
With no legs.
You want inspiration: http://www.marathonchamp.com/2009/10/whitehead-smashes-leg-amputee-world-record-in-chicago/
Hello All,
Just to clarify, I emailed Dave fully aware that he would probably ignore the email or send me a brief reply (not because he isn’t lovely, but because he is busy and owes me nothing). I certainly did not expect him to post it to his blog, and wasn’t aware of it until after he replied. Despite some of the more cynical replies, I will forever to be grateful to Dave for publishing the email and asking for the experiences and advice of his readers. I feel blessed to have had so many thoughtful replies and am very appreciative to those who took the time to. Individual replies below. (Decided to reply to those who are unsure of my intentions etc at the end, as I prefer to focus on those who took the time to be encouraging and helpful and don’t want to fixate on any negativity.)
Eskimon – thank you for your reply. This was my feeling too but my reason for asking is that it affects my life so much that I was very curious to find out about experiences of those in a similar situation as there isn’t much info available about this (with regards to the advertising industry anyway). Thank you also for your kind words.
Vinny – thank you for your helpful, concise answers! And haha, maybe I will see what I can do re: the S. Hawking angle!
Cat – I found your replies incredibly informative, especially as you are a recent graduate. You seem to have understood my intentions and anxieties perfectly and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to reply so comprehensively. Even though you’re still learning the answers, your advice was very practical—I think you should start your own blog, if you haven’t already!
Anca – Precisely, that’s what I find so helpful about all of these comments, even the less-than-positive ones. Anyone who reads these and who is in a similar position will find a huge variety of experiences and opinions, and I’m very grateful of this. You strike me as someone who is very mature and compassionate, and seem to have got the right end of the stick.
Rick – Thank you for your advice. Agreed re: spelling and grammar (and I was going to overlook any errors contained in your comment!). I don’t know whether it’s worth mentioning that I can only type with one hand using a long pencil so that I can reach the keyboard. It is painfully slow compared to the way everyone else types but I’ve become quite quick at it by now. Regardless of this you make a good point that I need to find a way to ensure my writing contains fewer errors despite the fact that it takes me three times longer than most other people to type a short email. (My sister is typing this for me right now by the way). Also worth pointing out I had no idea this would be published online, although considering the email was to Dave it would have been good to give it one more check to eliminate errors. Found your answer to question 5 especially informative. This was the kind of information I wondered about, especially the example of the deaf art director. I couldn’t agree more with “having a dream doesn’t entitle you to achieve it.” I think they should teach that at a very young age so that fewer of my peers go out there with such a huge sense of self-entitlement. Wise words, I will keep it in mind, along with your other suggestions.
Riki – Again, such practical advice. I like that your suggestions aren’t abstract. Also very thorough, thank you! Re: the person you worked with who was disabled, was it a physical disability that meant limited mobility? To what extent? I suspect it just means I need to work twice as hard and plan everything well in advance and much more thoroughly. Love your story about how you got your start!
Luke – wow, all of your advice is particularly useful to me as you are a recent graduate. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. If you’d like to stay in touch and you’re still in contact with Gareth, then I don’t mind passing my email address on through him (or perhaps Dave?)
Rachel – as soon as my course director told me about Dave I’ve been reading fairly religiously, I even showed the blog to my family.
Still working my way through the archives, think I’m nearly done. In general I like taking a hands on approach and actually getting in touch with people. It usually ends up being rewarding intellectually, and so far have found people in this industry to be unfailingly generous with advice and experiences—with a few minor exceptions.
Cal – Haha, thank you for the info. I think you’re very right about having to come up with loads of bad ideas before you hit the good ones.
Kevin Gordon – Thank you for the suggestions. Short, sweet and useful.
Less positive commenters:
Chris Brown – precisely what Cat said.
Diatribe – like I said, had no idea this would be published, didn’t even think I would get a reply. I think Dave did a very good thing despite your doubts, because there are probably hundreds of people who want to get into advertising who have a life-affecting disability (whether physical or not). Not to mention those without any disabilities who are starting out—should they read all the other replies, they now have a variety of practical suggestions from the other commenters. I see where you’re going with your comment, and feel free, but look at the responses. Dave asked others, presumably in search of the kinds of answers you can see. Are you saying all these other commenters who shared their experiences sound like “Zen Monks” and “pretentious jerks?” I would beg to differ.
Michael McMullan – Ah the folly of youth. Thank you for your view on matters. And please feel free to ignore or consider my “impairment,” but might be worth reading my reply to Rick above. If you had to type the way I need to perhaps your comment wouldn’t be so damning? Yes, there’s always speech-to-text software, but my condition affects my voicebox so training the software has proven difficult. I could wait for someone else to type for me, but even then their spelling and grammar is sometimes worse than mine and who wants to dictate “Dear Dave comma enter capital…” ? Sorry that you found my written communication so not up to scratch that it warranted a comment not only void of any helpful information, but also snidely implying that I am trying to get a free pass on basic syntax because of my “impairment”. All the best to you.
Crashzulu – read above, I didn’t even expect a reply let alone a post on this blog. Dave emailed me after this post went up. So no, I’m not asking for a job or an internship under false pretenses. Regarding “the whole disability thing” notice that the mention of it was very fleeting and limited to only one question in the totality of my email. If I really wanted your pity I would have been much more specific about my condition. I simply wrote “severely” because it affects my life a lot more than someone like you could imagine (i.e it’s a lot worse than having poor vision), but I didn’t want to harp on about it. If you must know, I have congenital muscular dystrophy and pretty full on scoliosis. You want details? Ask Dave for my email address and I would be happy to provide details about how I need other people to feed me, change my clothes, brush my teeth, and how something as simple as going to the cinema can require military-like preplanning. Please reread my email and tell me where exactly I made any excuses? I asked about the experiences of others who are or have worked with disabled creatives in advertising. “So, Sulaiman, since you are no doubt reading this, here’s a little advice. Don’t let your disability hold you back. But equally, don’t use it to get ahead.” So, Crashzulu, since you are no doubt reading this, here’s a little secret. When something affects your daily life as much as this affects mine, it holds you back a hell of a lot more than it gets you ahead. Not sure why a brief mention of disability (it is a factor that weighs heavy, I think I have a right to mention it and ask for other experiences) warranted such a negative comment from you, but whatever it is I hope you get over it for your own sake. You’re missing out on so much fun by being so aggressively cynical! Best of luck to you. PS – Your comment was very helpful to me as well in a strange way.
Ciaran McCabe – The man certainly does not make a good point, trust me.
Anca – thank you for not misrepresenting my intentions and making a fair point. Don’t worry, I’m not humiliated, just taken aback. Perhaps I read it as more vitriolic than it was? Who knows, but thank you for your kind words.
Thank you everyone, this has been incredibly eye-opening, especially as it is my first time contacting someone like this and being “published” on a blog. I’m glad I overcame my shyness and emailed Dave. It has been very worthwhile in several ways.
Whoops sorry my formatting is a bit strange there since I typed it in word and copied and pasted. Apologies as well for any errors, my sister is a good typer but sometimes too quick.
Hi, Sulaiman.
Especially now that I’ve read your reply, I have no doubt you’re stronger and more determined to be successful than most of us. The reason why I ALWAYS feel the need to reply to people like Crashzulu the way I did is that you NEVER know who you’re talking to and what impact your words have on them and I fail to see the benefit of identifying the naked devil in someone you haven’t even met, before trying to see any good intention in their words/attitude.
(–even if it’s sometimes entertaining, Dave! And I can tell you plenty of horrifying stories to prove my point and I’m not sure you’d still be so pleased with contrasting reactions for the simple sake of creating contrast. Sometimes it’s just below human standards, even if most of the times it’s fun. And you should know by now I don’t advocate agreement by all means.)
Sulaiman, you’ve just proved you know how to make the best of anything you get. Do you think you need anything else to be successful? I’d say that’s all it takes to make things happen. You came here for advice but the best bit in this episode was your lesson about being discreet, open-minded and optimistic. Thank you for that and good luck.
First of all, thank you to all who added their insight to this conversation. Your comments were read, considered and certainly influenced my perspective. (Probably for the better.) Now I would like to clarify one point.
I am not a cynic.
At most, I could be accused of being a realist.
I do, however, strongly believe in always asking the tough questions for two reasons:
1. You will never get to the truth without challenging the conventional wisdom.
2. When you find the truth it is very, very powerful.
As you can see, my preferred tactic is to be as provocative as possible. Not in an offensive way, but in a way that stops people and forces them to question their assumptions.
I would argue that this is rather effective.
My contribution to this blog has led to multiple people, from multiple place, with multiple perspectives adding greatly to this important conversation. I would even go so far as to say that Sulaiman may possibly gain deeper, more helpful insight because of it. I certainly hope so. In my book, the ends justify the means.
A note for Sulaiman. Thank you for your thoughtful response. Your further clarity helps shape this conversation, at least for me. I know that you didn’t set out to create this discussion, nor did you ask to be thrown into the fray, but I am sure, like everything in life, this happened for a reason. I wish you success in every challenge you take on.
A note for Dave. I couldn’t agree more. If you have the card you should play it. But there’s always more than one way to do so.
Now a related note about advertising for everyone. I have found from experience that if you don’t ask the tough questions up front, you have to answer them yourself at the back end. That’s why I don’t take things at face value.
Cheers
Sulaiman,
Why out of all the careers open to you do you want to get into advertising?
(That’s a genuine question, by the way, not a snarky piss-take.)
It all don’t mean jack unless you can come up with the goods.
For what it’s worth, that’s my take on life in advertising. “I don’t care where you are from or how you do it, can you give me what I want?”. “I think I can”, as a reply doesn’t pass the mustard. You need to be able to say, “I know I can”.
First you must learn to crawl before you can walk…this forum is a good start… but it’s only a start. The fable of the hare and the tortoise lays testament to that. Keep plugging away and you may get a lucky break. Good luck in all your endeavors. Remember life gives you lots of opportunities. Advertising only gives you one. So have fun.
Crashzulu,
I accept that you’re not a cynic.
I’ve always felt there’s a difference between a cynic and a sceptic.
A sceptic says, “I don’t believe it unless you prove it.”
A cynic says, “I don’t believe it even if you prove it.”
All knowledge results from the sceptical approach.
Disillusion and depression result from the cynical approach.
All British philosophy: Locke, Berkeley, Hume was based on the sceptical approach.
Even Descartes original method of doubt was based on scepticism.
Personally, I like Tony Benn’s quote,
“Democracy is not about crushing the opposition.
It is about the vitality of the debate.”
I don’t agree with your views.
But they were provocative, and you expressed them reasonably and rationally.
And anyone who does that is welcome here.
John, sorry to do this in front of others, but replies don’t ‘pass the mustard’, they ‘pass muster’. Unless of course you were doing a deliberate Del Boy and it just went over my head, in which case I just made myself look like a bit of a cock.
Hey Ben
Thanks for the backhanded compliment. I love malapropism.
I’m always trying to drop a Del Boyism in wherever I can. I kinda slipped it in ‘cos I know Dave likes him too, if truth be known. You are def not a cock though unless you know something I don’t.
… “It’s great to be back on terra cotta!” — John Prescott
I think Stan Laurel was where it all started for me though.
Ben
For the record Del Boy never said ‘pass the mustard’. I’m claiming it as one of my own!
For Sulaiman:
Whatever answers you find to those questions… Don’t let any over-studious ‘London Idiots’ train, and/or beat the humility out of you. You’ve obviously got tonnes of it and you’ll go a long way on that alone.
As far as techniques for good advertising… Have a cup of tea with your mum and ask her why she buys those tea bags. My bet is she’ll give you a more useful answer than any planner/account man/creative will ever give you.
Hope you get what you want.
Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
Hi Dave and everyone else.
As we’ve kind of touched on controversial views and people’s right to express them, where do you lot stand on the Nick Griffin ‘Question Time’ situation? Have the BBC done the right thing by inviting him on?
(Personally, I think the BNP have every right to set out their case on Question Time; but I’m extremely concerned about their tendency to lie/exagerate/twist the truth in an effort to look reasonable.)
Brilliant as ever. I never fail in learning something from this blog.
@crashzulu
to make one thing clear. I never really paid any attention to Sulaiman’s disabillity. any at all. either way disabled or not Sulaiman deserves the same respect everybody. I gave him the answers I would give to anybody who asked me. so, at least in my case, you were waaaaaaaay off. keep that in mind next time you’ll think that digging up an unexisting hidden agenda makes you look smarter.
@Sulaiman
my ex-colleague had some childhood disease that left him of short height, unable to walk (he used clutches), hard to type etc, but he was a lucid thinker which is all that really matters. sorry to forget the name of disease and/or for not so vivid description (english is not my first language).
how it affected his work? well, he made the most out of it: because he was typing so slow he came out with TV ads that were (internally) presented in a sentence or two, short headlines, short bodycopies… which was a great lesson for all of us: if he didn’t deliver with that, he wouldn’t any other way.
Sulaiman
Yes, ask Gareth for mine and Wilfs email. He can give it to you.
Thanks for your comments Sulaiman, it’s really interesting to hear a bit more about how your disability impacts on your work.
It’s great to see how different your post was to your original email – you’ve already taken people’s comments on board and you’re writing seems loads better. Hope it doesn’t sound patronising but I think that shows you can listen to criticism and have got what it takes to keep improving, quickly – all the skills you need to do the job.
Getting your sister to type may not be ideal, but it seems like you’ve hit on something there. Maybe you could form a creative partnership with someone who is prepared to type up your thoughts? Or find alternative ways of presenting your ideas, something that will work for you and give you stand-out when applying for jobs. I had a chronically shy friend at art school who used to pre-record all her presentations rather than speak in front of a crowd - maybe your book needs to be audio/visual rather than the traditional portfolio? Or performed live by actors? You could do some unusual stuff that’s going to grab attention.
The more ‘negative’ comments on this blog have really reinforced why I wanted to give you a decent reply in the first place. As you’ve now witnessed there are a lot of people in advertising who think ‘you’ve either got it or you haven’t’ and ‘if I need to tell you, you’re shouldn’t be here’. Although that’s true to an extent (i.e. you need a degree of natural talent), there’s nothing that can’t be learnt! Practice, hard work and determination will get you everywhere. Think of advertising like plumbing, its just another trade you can turn your hand to. These comments have focussed on the disability side of things, but the biggest challenge you’ll face is paving your way in an industry where there can be lots of arrogance and pretence surrounding being ‘a creative’. Keep reading blogs like this. Dave shares his secrets and gives great tips – gravitate towards people like that, rather than those who don’t take the time to explain. (Paul Arden’s books are great too if you haven’t read them already.) If people say they don’t know how they come up with their ideas or why they think the way they do, chances are they’re either lying or haven’t ever examined their techniques in any detail. People like that can easily make you feel inferior and negative – which they sometimes do deliberately. Keep doing what you’re doing and asking questions – I like your approach.
“Think of advertising like plumbing, …”
Couldn’t agree more.
Is there a God?
Try getting an advertising man on a Saturday night.
Ciaran
Hi Sulaiman,
You must feel pretty proud that your email has inspired such a feisty debate.
If all your future communications cause your audience to have such a strong reaction you should be pretty successful in advertising.
I agree with everyone who has said “use anything you can to your advantage.”
I got my first job in adland because I had mentioned on my CV that I was a magician. Basically the ECD loved the idea that he could have a performing monkey in the office that he could pull into meetings to impress clients.
After that it was up to me to prove that I could do as much with words and images as I could with a pack of cards or silk handkerchiefs. I’m still trying to.
At uni (in Australia) we were told, “find your inherent drama,” whatever that may be and use it to sell yourself.
I’m not saying that your disability has to be the thing that makes you different but it is something that will have given you a unique perspective on life. The advertising industry always needs a fresh perspective.
Something you might find useful: This blog is written by a few graduates of the advertising course I did back in Aus: it’s all about getting your first job and then being a junior. Aptly named, Junior - life at the bottom, it contains lots of helpful tips and interviews with people doing great work right now.
http://lifeatthebottom.com/
I think you will find it useful even if it is Australian
@Sulaiman
Hi, I’m glad you found my advice useful - and that others have also given you their tuppenceworths.
Please don’t get hung up about my grammar comment. As I said, there are lower expectations of blog comments. What I was really getting at was my personal bugbear - art directors and designers who believe spelling and grammar as somebody else’s job.
Since you have given us more details regarding your disability, I would reiterate the need to attend job interviews armed with firm, reasonable and practical adjustments the prospective employer can make to accomodate your particular needs.
Also, beware of getting a foot in the industry’s door via your disability. Dave’s ‘hook or crook’ approach might put you on the path towards the job you covet, but it might also lead down a blind alley. As a planner, I’ve run many research projects around diversity and I’m invariably struck by the high proportion of people with disabilities who work in charities or on charity accounts. Be careful of getting your foot in the door of a ghetto. There’s no reason a man can’t write ads for Tampax and no reason you can’t write ads for pretty much any product or service. But I’ve seen this sort of thing happen. They’ll put you on the pitch for Mencap but not CapGemini. And so on. And before you know it, they never put you a bank or a law firm or an FMCG because you’ve no experience on those types of account.
So if you do make it in, somewhere, be prepared to keep fighting for the same variety of task that others enjoy. Otherwise, you may as well apply to a disability charity’s in-house team. But that will never take you agency side.
Best of luck.
Hey Sulaiman,
Everyone’s got disabilities of one or another.
It’s just that some disabilities are more visible than others.
If you’ve got no hands you can use mine.
They are not worn out yet,
and neither is my brain… quite yet.
Let’s do some ads.
If it works it works,
and if it doesn’t,
who cares
it will still be fun.
1) What is the best way I can better my communication skills like you?
Keep removing words and pictures until your ideas are very clear and very simple
2) What is the most important thing you look for when you are choosing a student for an internship or to hire?
there are two types of job seeker. Those who want you to give them something and those who will come and give you something. Be the latter. All you have are ideas and energy and probably youth. Offer loads of all three.
3) What do you love/hate the most about working in advertising?
I love people with great ideas. I love great ideas. I hate politics and ignorance. But beware of blaming clients: if they;re not convinced, it’s our fault.
4) How can I improve my ‘book’ so it has the best chance to get the perfect job? What do look for?
As vinny says create a book that meets the need of the agency you really wanna work for.
5) Do know if there are any other severely disabled people like myself working in advertising? Am just a bit curious.
I worked with a profoundly deaf art worker, but that’s all. She was brilliant. Find an agency that takes risks in their work. They will be more likely to take a “risk” in hiring someone who is obviously different and brings them a challenge. It’s your brain that matters. Don’t give up mate. History is littered with “disabled” people who triumphed and changed history, List them at the start of your book and stick your name on the bottom. Or the top.
6) What techniques do you use to generate the ‘wow ideas’?
make sure the brief is simple and easy to understand. Stuff your brain with information. Then mull. Don;t sweat it. Ideas come when you’re not trying so hard. Just do the homework and keep scribbling. Don;t stick at something. Move on and keep scriblling.. The bin is your friend
7) How did you get your first break in to advertising.
Kept asking. And kept turning up. Eventually I was the only one there when the job came up. And be nice. it works better than being arrogant.
Nice one Angus.
Especially the bit about the bin.
Respect for the Bin.
Hello,
This is Sulaiman’s sister. He asked me to comment for him. Mon-Fri he is usually away at uni and flat-out with his coursework etc… so he said even though the blog has moved on, he would still like to reply to the remaining comments and plans to do so when he comes home this weekend.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to leave feedback and comments.
As a student I have found all the replies here really helpful, so thankyou Sulaiman for emailing Dave, and thankyou Dave for posting the email.
Having no experience in an agency, as yet, I thought I might take a shot at answering the questions too - because it seems to me that what you lack at present is inner confidence. Obviously we both still have a lot to learn, but how would you answer your own questions? Believe and trust in yourself, you seem intelligent, I expect most of the time you will have a worthwhile answer.
1. Keep things simple. Show your ideas to your friends and family (who aren’t on your course) - if they get it without you explaining it, you’re on the right track. Write your own blog (I know I would read it) and read lots of others - Dave’s is wonderful, but so are many others. Engage with as many people as possible in as many places and fields as possible. Understanding people will be the key to the rest of your working life - talk to the coffee shop girl, the building security guard, librarian, bingo caller, tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor… the crazy old lady who walks her dog at 3am.
2. Can’t answer this I’m afraid, but everyone else’s advice makes sense to me!
3. I love the idea that we will one day be paid to have fun. It is fun, isn’t it? How many people can say that their job is FUN? I’m not loving the pressure of competitions, while they are not the be-all-and-end-all, it does seem that winning a few student trophies is the quickest way to getting a job.
4. We have always been told that your book is a constantly evolving thing. If you have a book review and they suggest you make some changes, make those changes and make sure to follow up with the agency. But keep the old stuff too, because a different agency might like you to move in a different direction, depending on their clients or company ethos. Keep your book short and show a variety of work, but have back-up stuff in the wings so if you are going say, to a digital agency, you can show more digital work and perhaps leave out anything less relevant. Be constantly working and if you have a brainwave on the train to an interview, don’t be scared to draw it on a napkin and stick it in the back of your book!
5. There is a girl on my course who uses a wheelchair regularly, though not all the time. Frequent hospital visits mean she was held back a year, and now does the course part-time, but I think with conviction there is no height you, or her, cannot reach. It may take longer but if you really want it, you can make anything happen. Plus if you think someone has turned you down purely because of your disability, then sue the mother’s for discrimination.
6. This as yet I have not cracked. But don’t dismiss anything - write/sketch every silly idea you have. They might turn out to be not so silly. Work out lots and lots of strategies and then pick a few that you like to develop, develop them in lots of different ways then compare them, what works best? Go for something unique, don’t be afraid to go completely nuts, its easier to tone something down than make it more interesting. (credits to Mike and Gyles, tutors at Lincoln, BA(hons) Creative Advertising, their advice regurgitated here.)
@Rick: I disagree that live posts need less attention to punctuation and spelling - ok, there might be the odd ‘lol’ in there somewhere, and it’s quick and dirty - if I spot something after posting I’ll let it go. But being eloquent and grammatically correct in a place where few people bother can set you apart from the herd.
Thanks Ruby, very thorough.
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS IF YOU DIDN’T READ ON ANOTHER POST:
I recently had the privilege of working with an organisation which assists people of varying disability. In preparing my recommendations, I researched best-practices for online ‘accessibility’.
I discovered that a unique font has been created by Fontsmith specifically for the visually impaired and people with other reading disabilities (primardyslexia etc.).
It is called FS Me. Visit http://www.fontsmith.com
This is how they describe the font on their website:
FS Me is designed to aid legibility for those with learning disability. FS Me was researched and developed in conjunction with - and endorsed by - Mencap, the UK’s leading charity and voice for those with learning disability. Mencap receive a donation for each font licence purchased.
That’s a great initiative. However, currently the font is only usable in print and can only be used online as an image-based element. In other words, it can’t be used as online text.
Isn’t that a great shame? So I am wondering this:
Is the font FS Me that much more helpful to those who need it most? If so, should the digital communications industry be lobbying to have it encrypted/encoded for internet text use?
I would love to know what has been done (if anything) and what can be done to make it happen.
It doesn’t make sense that the many government and charity based websites that need to be most accessible can’t use the text that is reputed to be the most legible.
Maybe it has already been debated and a conclusion arrived at. If that’s the case, my friends in the disabled access community are not aware of it.
I know that as long ago as 2003, Wired ran a story (http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/10/60834) about a Dutch designer, Natascha Frensch who was close to releasing a similar font, called Regular Reader.
This is an extract from the article:
Without these enhancements, the traditional fonts used on the Web and in newspapers, books and magazines can contribute to letter-reversal errors and other problems commonly associated with visual dyslexia.
According to the U.K.-based Dyslexia Research Trust, as many as 10 percent of English readers have some form of dyslexia, a learning disorder thought to be caused by a combination of genetic, immune and nutritional factors.
Although most children have trouble with letter reversal when first learning to read, dyslexics often continue to have problems as they grow older.
“All beginning readers make letter reversals,” primarily before age 6, said John Stein, founder of the Dyslexia Research Trust. “However, 50 percent of child dyslexics at age 8 complain of visual problems including letter reversals.”
Stein believes specialized typefaces can help combat the symptoms of dyslexia, especially if the fonts are used in large print and do not have serifs, the tiny lines that project from the bodies of letters in many common type styles.
Currently, many dyslexia-friendly websites use the sans-serif Arial typeface. But like other potentially problematic typefaces, Arial uses similar forms for the letters b and d, p and q, and u and n.
Some organizations, like the University of Edinburgh Disability Office, have tried using the Comic Sans typeface instead. But the thick and asymmetrical characters that make up Comic Sans often are considered to be too whimsical for professional use.
However, if you go to Natascha Frensch’s own website for the font, she uses Microsofts Verdana, because her ‘more legible’ font cn only be used as a visual element. http://www.readregular.com/english/intro.html
There’s a lot of activity going on but no satisfactory results. dyslexic.com reports on efforts by Microsoft which fall short of best practice in terms of editable text online. Read about from this link.
http://www.dyslexic.com/articlecontent.asp?CAT=Dyslexia%20Information&slug=67&title=Typefaces%20for%20Dyslexia
They say:
Britain has two million severely dyslexic individuals, including some 375,000 schoolchildren. 10% of people using ‘Romance’ languages are coping with a reading difficulty. Dyslexia is a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process, displaying a wide range of difficulties. Dyslexia can occur despite normal intellectual ability and teaching, and it is independent of socio-economic or language background. The British Dyslexia Association
There has been growing innovation to combat dyslexia, especially for children, in the form of computer software. However, relatively little design research has been done in the area of typography and type design that might support dyslexics. Read Regular is a typeface designed specifically to help people with dyslexia read and write more effectively.
Read Regular aims at preventing a neglect of dyslexia, creating a more confident feeling regarding the problems that occur with dyslexia.
As I see it, the big online issue is as follows: most public sector and charity websites have a requirement for self content management. The WAI ratings are self-assessed as long as you follow the guideline. So achieving best practices is not only a variable, it falls short of the opportunity, given that there are fonts available that are more user-friendly than those available to the communications industry. I feel sure that it wouldn’t cost Microsoft that much to make one of these font available.
All you agency colleagues out there in WPP-land, have a word with your global client.